Jinggoy preparing welcome for Leila

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Leila de Lima may expect a warm welcome if she is arrested on drug charges, former senator Jinggoy Estrada said yesterday.

“I already have a welcoming party for her. My aides and my driver,” Estrada said when asked to react on De Lima’s impending arrest after she was charged by the Department of Justice in connection with the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison.

De Lima, who spearheaded the filing of plunder charges against Estrada and former senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr. before the Sandiganbayan, was reported to have had relationships with her former aides and driver.

Estrada and Revilla remain detained in the Philippine National Police Custodial Center at Camp Crame while Enrile is out on bail.

It remains to be seen whether De Lima, a former justice secretary, will join the ranks of “senator-detainees” at the Custodial Center.

De Lima is facing charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act for getting campaign money from drug lords detained at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa while she was justice secretary.